In the manufacture of circuit assemblies for various electrical equipments as, for example, telephone sets, it if often necessary to mount integrated circuits and other electrical components on printed wiring boards by inserting the leads of the components into holes in the boards for later soldering or otherwise fastening of the components in place. Such insertion operation is now done on an assembly line by robots which pick up the components, properly position them over the boards, and then lower them so that the leads of each component are inserted into the corresponding holes in the board. In order, however, for a robot to so pick up and then properly position a component, the component before being picked up should be in some standardized position in relation to the robot jaws which will grasp it.
The electrical components being discussed are usually furnished to the plant in bulk in cartons containing them in a single layer in a rectangular grid array, with all components being right side up or upside down in the carton. In order for such components to be made ready for robot pick-up, they must be removed from the carton, transferred to a specified location and be rendered at that location in standardized position. That manipulating of the components can, of course, be performed by hand. Such manual performance of the steps described is, however, expensive in terms of labor costs and not wholly reliable. Hence, there is need for a capability of performing one or more of such handling steps in an automatic manner.